I have a choke on my Remington 1100. I used to hunt Pheasant with it. GREAT GUN! It came with a few different types of chokes, I will have to read more about them, all I know is that they make it so the bullet itself spreads for a greater chance of actually hitting the bird. I do not know much about chokes. I am getting some rifled slugs too for my Mossberg 500. I will do some research on chokes and see if I can help you out ok buddy?

I can't comment on the best chokes for clays, but for slugs you want to avoid choking down too tight which will increase pressure across the board, especially at the muzzle. I would think cylinder or improved cylinder if you're not using a rifled choke specifically for slugs.

yeah, i've used rifled slugs in my 1100 tactical, which is full open. They worked fine. I've read that an improved cylinder is a good all-around choke and can be used for skeet or clays. That may be what I go with.

And, businessoptics: I think chokes keep the shot pattern tighter, not more spread apart. It helps you hit targets at longer distances than an open barrel would allow (though they do have a few that spread out the shot FASTER than an open barrel for home defense situations). You match the choke to the distance that you need.

I guess I knew the basics, but wanted to know if there was a real good place to start for sporting clays. I've seen several suggestions online, but most say to go with the improved cylinder to start with. I wanted to make sure these suggestions sounded accurate to you all.

With regards to slugs; if you're using a standard barrel for slugs, use a more open choke. Probably improved cylinder would be best, but don't go smaller than modified.

With regards to sporting clays; assuming you have interchangable chokes, take what you've got and ask at the course when you get there. Most courses will have been set up to work best with a modified or improved cylinder. If you happen to have a double-barrel you would use both mod. & imp. cyl. If you're a beginner and using a single barrel gun I would personally (just my opinion) recommend starting with an improved cylinder.

With regards to slugs; if you're using a standard barrel for slugs, use a more open choke. Probably improved cylinder would be best, but don't go smaller than modified.

With regards to sporting clays; assuming you have interchangable chokes, take what you've got and ask at the course when you get there. Most courses will have been set up to work best with a modified or improved cylinder. If you happen to have a double-barrel you would use both mod. & imp. cyl. If you're a beginner and using a single barrel gun I would personally (just my opinion) recommend starting with an improved cylinder.

I'm shooting with my new o/u, so yeah... I have a double barrel. Why would I use both mod AND imp cyl in this case? I can guess at reasons, but would like to know more, if you have a good explanation.

Until you shoot a particular slug thru your barrel and choke, you don't know what will do what. I had a buddy with an 870 with a modified barrel that would shoot slugs like a rifle. My 1100 wouldn't do all that great with any choke I could find.
In fact, you do not know for sure what pattern you are getting with birdshot until you try it, but the odds are much better there that the pattern will be close to what it is supposed to be. You can shoot any lead buck or bird shot out of any choke safely. You shouldn't shoot sabot slugs out of any choked barrel without carefully reading the label of the sabot slugs you have first.

I'm shooting with my new o/u, so yeah... I have a double barrel. Why would I use both mod AND imp cyl in this case? I can guess at reasons, but would like to know more, if you have a good explanation.

janikphoto,
The reason for using both modified & improved cylinder are for varying target presentations. In most cases you have a barrel selector on your o/u. If not, it will shoot the bottom barrel first. So, put the IC on the bottom barrel, and the MOD on top. When you are presented with a simultaneous (true) pair, you can shoot the first (i.e. closer) target with the IC, and then the follow-up (i.e. farther target) with the MOD. If you have a barrel selector then when you get a peek at the target presentation, you can select the barrel/choke based on whether the first or second target is going to be closer. Make sense?

janikphoto,
The reason for using both modified & improved cylinder are for varying target presentations. In most cases you have a barrel selector on your o/u. If not, it will shoot the bottom barrel first. So, put the IC on the bottom barrel, and the MOD on top. When you are presented with a simultaneous (true) pair, you can shoot the first (i.e. closer) target with the IC, and then the follow-up (i.e. farther target) with the MOD. If you have a barrel selector then when you get a peek at the target presentation, you can select the barrel/choke based on whether the first or second target is going to be closer. Make sense?

Yeah, makes real good sense. I'm JUST learning all the ins and outs of sporting clays, so I've got a lot to learn still. But yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I was actually shooting my top barrel first, but should be saving that for the "harder to it" target. The mod choke would have a tighter pattern for the longer shots, so yeah... I think I'm understanding the reasons behind it!